Manama – Bahrain on Tuesday announced a month-long ban on visitors from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan and Uganda, the three African nations at the centre of the latest Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 130 people. 

The ban will remain in place for 30 days but not apply to Bahraini nationals, authorities said. The escalating outbreak has forced the World Health Organization to voice concern about the scale and speed of the outbreak and warn that it could be lengthy. 

“Entry is suspended for non-Bahraini travellers arriving in the Kingdom of Bahrain from the Republic of South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Republic of Uganda on all flights, effective today,” the kingdom’s Civil Aviation Affairs authority said in a statement. 

“This measure follows the World Health Organization’s announcement regarding updates on the Ebola virus outbreak and the evolving epidemiological situation in the aforementioned countries.” 

People who have visited those countries in the 30 days prior to their arrival in Bahrain are also barred from flying into the kingdom, the statement said. Bahrainis arriving from these countries will be “subject to the health protocols approved for such cases immediately upon their arrival” it said, without providing further details. The US State Department on Tuesday strongly urged Americans to avoid travel to the three countries. 

The UN health agency has declared the surge of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever an international health emergency and called an urgent meeting on the crisis. 

It is the 17th Ebola outbreak in the DRC, but just the third caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments. 

The DRC’s deadliest Ebola outbreak, between 2018 and 2020, claimed nearly 2 300 lives from 3 500 cases. 

– Nampa/AFP